Over-the-shoulder garment carrier



Jan. 9, 1968 T'. GALAZIN 3,362,599

OVER-THE SHOULDER GARMENT CARRIER Filed Nov. 10, 1966 INVENTOR.

TRUDE GALAZIN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,362,599 OVER-THE-SHOULDER GARMENT CARRIER Trude Galazin, 3168 Wooster Road,

Rocky River, Ohio 44116 Filed Nov. 10, 1966, Ser. No. 593,547 4 Claims. (Cl. 22445) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An over-the-shoulder garment carrier has an elongated, flat, semi-rigid base with a flexible, belt-like handle extending from one end thereof generally coplanar with the base. Au elongated projection means extends from one side of the base down its centerline, there being a plurality of garment-hanger-receiving slots passing laterally through This invention relates to an over-the-shoulder garment carrier and more particularly to an improved carrier for suspending a plurality of garment hangers for easy and convenient carriage over the shoulder of the user.

More particularly, this invention relates to a garment carrier which has an elongated generally flat and flexible strap-like base to which are secured a plurality of separate slots spaced longitudinally along the base and with each slot being of a size and character to receive and hold at least one garment hanger, together with handle means connected at one end of the base and extending away therefrom generally in the plane of the base and in a direction away from the slots.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and description and the essential features will be set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view, enlarged, taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1; while FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention together with .a minor modification shown in broken lines.

Travellers often have a number of garment hangers on which they are carrying coats, suits or dresses and it is awkward, and sometimes painful, to handle a number of such hangers to and from conveyances while travelling. This invention aims to provide a very simple but efficient manner by which a plurality of such loa-ded garment hangers may-be carried without discomfort.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is preferably molded in one or two pieces. The preferred material would provide an elongated generally flat and flexible strap-like base having approximately the flexibility of a strong leather strap. This carrier of FIG. 1 might be molded from a suitable synthetic resin or plastic, or possibly of rubber of a medium hardness substantially incapable of being stretched, like soft rubber, but not as stiif as hard rubber, hereinafter referred to as semi-rigid. An upstanding projection 11 is preferably rigidly connected with the base 10 either as a unitary molding or attached by a suitable adhesive or other fastening means. This projection provides a plurality of slots 12, here shown as through openings at right angles to the longer dimension of the base 10. These slots are inclined away from the base and somewhat downwardly when the carrier is suspended over the shoulder of the user by the handle means connected thereto. Thus hangers in the slots will slide away from the body of the user. The handle means of FIG. 1 at 13 is a bight of a flexible, belt-like strap extending generally coplanar with the base 10. If the handle 13 is separate from the base 10, it may be secured firmly thereto by one or more lines of stitching 14', or by adhesive, or by other fastening means.

Preferably, but not necessarily, a support opening 14 is provided extending through the carrier at right angles to the base and near the junction of the base with the handle means, this support opening being adapted to embrace a pin or hook from which the base and garment hangers would depend. In other words, a traveller disembarking from a conveyance and carrying a plurality of garment hangers having their hooks extending through the openings or slots 12 could take the carrier of this invention to his room and, if he so desired, place the opening 14 on the hook of a closet wall or the like so that all of the garments would remain suspended from such hook. A simple way to provide the through opening 14 is by means of the grommet which is clearly shown in FIG. 2 passing entirely through the handle means and flanged over as at 14a on the top and bottom of the handie.

The second embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is made of strip or sheet material which might be sheet plastic, canvas, leather or similar substitute. Here again we have an elongated generally flat and flexible strap-like base 15 to which are attached a plurality of slots 16, which in this instance are loops of strip material, each secured to the base 15 at the end of the loop nearest the handle as by means of sitiching 17 or, of course, some other securing means could be used instead of the stitching. In this instance, a more secure and protected structure is provided by means of a loop 18 of flexible strip material which embraces all of the slots 16 and is secured at the end near the handle to the base 15 by means of stitching 19 or other suitable securing means. Note that the loops 16 provide slots extending crosswise of the base and evenly spaced longitudinally of the base and so positioned as to hang downwardly when the carrier is held over the .shoulder of a user by means of its handle. Thus hangers in the slots will slide away from the body of the user. This handle 20 is similar to that shown at 13 and is, namely, a flexible strip of material forming a closed loop and secured to the base 15 and generally coplanar with the base. A second handle 21 is shown in dot-dash lines and the device might be provided with two handles, the longer one for tall people and the shorter one for short people, or the handle might be a single handle and either short or long.

Here again, as in FIG. 1, a support opening 22 is provided by means of a grommet extending through the layers of strip 18, handle 20, and the base 15 and providing means for hanging the carrier on a pin or hook as described in connection with the opening 14 of the first e-mbediment.

It is intended in both embodiments shown herein that the slots 12 or 16 should be adapted to hold the hook portion of approximately three garment hangers in each slot. Since the slots in each embodiment are entirely separate from each other, this compels a spreading of the load lengthwise with respect to the elongated base 10 so that there is no concentrated load and the entire weight of the garments is carried through the projection 11 in FIG. 1 or through the fastenings of the loops 16 in FIG. 3 to the base 10 or 15 which has suflicient area to distribute the entire load comfortably on the body of the carrier, such as at the shoulder portion.

It will be understood that in the use of this device, a plurality of garment hangers bearing clothes have the hook portions passed through the slots 12 or 16, after which the user holds the handle 13 or 20 on the forward side of the shoulder while the base 10 hangs generally vertically down the rearward side of his shoulder with the garments hanging therefrom as above discussed. The device is simple and cheaply constructed and very satisfactory for the purpose intended.

What is claimed is:

1. An over-the-shoulder garment carrier consisting of an elongated generally flat semi-rigid base, an elongated projection means connected with said base of less width than said base and extending centrally and longitudinally of said base midway between the sides of said base, there being a plurality of slots extending through said projection means at right angles to the longitudinal dimension of said base, a flexible belt-like handle secured to one end of said base and extending therefrom generally coplanar with said base, and said slots extending away from said base and downwardly when said carrier is held by said handle over the shoulder of a user with said base extending generally vertically downwardly on his back, so that garment hangers in said slots slide away from the body of the user.

2. A garment carrier as defined in claim 1 wherein said base and projection means are parts of a molded synthetic plastic material, and said slots are molded in said projection means.

3. A garment carrier as defined in claim 1 wherein said projection means comprises a plurality of loops of strip material secured in alignment spaced along the central longitudinal axis of said base-and secured to said base at the end of each loop nearest the handle.

4. A garment carrier as defined in claim 1 wherein a support opening is provided extending through the thickness dimension of said base near the junction of said base and handle, said support opening being adapted to embrace a pin or hook from which said base would depend.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,112,339 3/1938 Kasparek 224-5 2,264,957 12/1941 Shafarman 22387 X 2,615,602 10/1952 Thompson et al 22387 2,840,412 6/1958 Lancaster 29426 3,313,460 4/1967 Hooker 22445 FOREIGN PATENTS 654,890 7/1951 Great Britain.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

R. J. SPAR, Assistant Examiner. 

